Soutullo appointed vice chair and chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry |
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Cesar Soutullo, MD, PhD, professor in the Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, has been appointed vice chair and chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Soutullo joined the department in September 2019. His area of focus is ADHD and bipolar disorder in children and adolescents. He´s investigated phenomenology of early stages of these disorders, studying children of parents with bipolar disorder, and preschool children with early symptoms of possible ADHD.
Child psychiatry has become a big topic of discussion recently. Childhood depression and suicide rates have steadily increased over the last several years. According to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, suicide is the second cause of death in people ages 10-34, and it is highly preventable. The prevalence of affective disorders such as anxiety and depression have increased in the last two years to a lifetime prevalence around 13.1% and 6.8% respectively (from a baseline of 9.4% and 4.4%). Early recognition in pediatrics and proactive combined treatment is key, Soutullo says.
“I think the pandemic pushed these problems out in the open,” Soutullo said. “We discovered more and more cases of mental health problems in children. People were less ashamed of talking about it."
However, new discoveries, treatment options, and therapeutic approaches are available. Soutullo says new funds from the American Rescue Plan will improve and expand child and adolescent psychiatry programs in the greater Houston Area and counties to the East Texas area.
Through the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium - Senate Bill 11 funds, the department has created programs aimed specifically at treating children where they are, at home or in school. The Child Psychiatry Access Network (CPAN), Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT), and The Community Psychiatry Workforce Expansion (CPWE) all provide consultation with primary care providers, schools via telemedicine, and out in the community remotely. In addition, they support the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship and Psychology Internship expansions. The new John S. Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center will offer opportunities for treatment of children and adolescents as well as for research, training, and teaching.
Soutullo’s goal is to make the child and adolescent psychiatry division more synergic, coordinated, cohesive, and visible in the community as a whole. In the last two years, new faculty and staff dedicated to working with children have been hired. Collaboration with different health care facilities, non-profit organizations, and schools promote public awareness of child psychiatry.
Soutullo is excited to take on a new challenge to provide the best child care services to the Greater Houston area and beyond.
“I’m very excited because this is something I’ve always wanted to do,” Soutullo said. “Running a big program that meets children in need of psychiatric care where they are, while also encouraging research and being involved in education to train the next generation of child psychiatrists.”
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Spotlight
Machado-Vieira lead bipolar disorder program
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Rodrigo Machado-Vieira, MD, PhD, MSc, professor in the Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, was recently named the director of the UTHealth Houston Bipolar Disorder Program. He is also the director of the Experimental Therapeutics and Molecular Pathophysiology Program.
Machado-Vieira leads pharma-funded trials and from other funding sources as well as new patent applications. Prior to joining the department in 2017, he completed a fellowship in experimental therapeutics at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) from 2006-2009, where he led the translational research clinic in mood disorders from 2012-2017.
He is listed as a top 0.01% expert in bipolar disorder (Expertscape). His research focuses on the identification of improved therapeutics and novel biomarkers for mood disorders. Current trials focus on studying glutamate, purinergic, and endocannabinoid modulators.
Additionally, his research also utilizes translational technologies to identify biological signatures of antidepressant responses. Machado-Vieira is excited for the opportunity to lead the UTHealth Houston bipolar disorder program and discover new ways to treat patients.
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Hilda Cruz's journey at UTHealth Houston |
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Hilda Cruz, senior patient access representative at the Faillace Department of Psychiatry, was featured in a spotlight for McGovern Medical School employees. She started at UTHealth Houston in 1990 and talks about her journey and various positions she's held in the department.
Read the full interview here.
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Santos elected to the American College of Psychiatrists Board of Regents |
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Join us in congratulating Cynthia Santos, MD, clinical professor in the Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, who was recently elected to the American College of Psychiatrists Board of Regents, for a term beginning in 2023.
The American College of Psychiatrists was founded in 1963 in St. Louis. The College is a non-for-profit association, dedicated to providing continuing education to its members. The college promotes the latest advances in various specialties in the psychiatry field.
Membership in the College is limited to psychiatrists who have demonstrated outstanding competence in the psychiatry field, and have achieved national recognition in clinical practice, research, academic leadership, or teaching.
Santos’ appointment to the Board of Regents is prestigious. The board, which is made up of six offers and nine other board members, is the executive council of The College. The Board administers all professional and business affairs of the association, and oversees The College's member-driven committees.
Read more about the American College of Psychiatrists here.
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Leung participates in programs to further career |
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Edison Leung, MD, a third-year resident in the Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, won a resident paper competition and was accepted into the American Psychiatric Association research colloquium, all in recognition of recent research he conducted.
Leung got into psychiatry because of an interest in understanding the neurobiological basis of mood disorders, and currently he is studying the intersection of mood disorders with substance use disorders. When he arrived at UTHealth Houston, he started working with Assistant Professor Hanjing Emily Wu, MD, PhD, on a research project studying patients who struggle with benzodiazepine use. Their goal was to repurpose other drugs to help relieve symptoms, reducing the need for benzodiazepine and reducing the length of an acute hospital stay.
Leung’s work with Wu inspired him to submit a paper, based on their research, to the residency paper competition, hosted by Journal of Psychiatric Practice. The journal receives many submissions per year and is tasked with picking out the best paper, based on the type of research and outcomes from the study. He also is to serve on the journal’s editorial board for winning the competition.
Leung has also worked closely with Associate Professor Sudhakar Selvaraj, MD, studying different proteins in the brain and how they are altered in those who suffer from substance use disorder. Because of this work, Leung applied to be considered for a research colloquium at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting. As a result of winning the competition, Leung will now serve on the journal's editorial board.
Both the paper competition and research colloquium will provide Leung the opportunity to grow in the psychiatry field, given the mentorship aspects provided by both programs. The ability to collaborate with many researchers in the field will ultimately help him to achieve his goal of becoming a funded researcher at UTHealth Houston.
“I really want to thank my mentors and everyone I’ve collaborated with,” Leung said. “Without them I wouldn’t have been able to achieve either of these awards without their mentorship.”
He looks forward to continuing those collaborations to ultimately help patients with substance use disorders and their associated mood changes.
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Gurguis enters training program at VA |
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Christopher Gurguis, MD, second-year resident in the Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, was recently awarded a Building Educational Scholarship in Psychiatry Training (BEST) Fellowship Award for the South Central Mental Illness Research, Education, Clinical Center (SC MIRECC) region.
The SC MIRECC, which covers Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana, created the BEST fellowship to encourage residents to pursue research training after residency. The fellowship’s goal is to pair residents with an active researcher in the VA system. The hope is the residents will continue to collaborate with the VA system and eventually become independent researchers.
Gurguis’ interest is in evolutionary psychiatry, which started when he attended graduate school at the University of Arizona and was in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department studying bluebird behavior. He realized some of these same principles could be applied to medicine as well.
In order to be considered for the BEST Fellowship, a resident must be recommended by a program director. In selecting candidates, the committee looks for contributions made to diversity, equity, and inclusion; belonging to an underrepresented group in psychiatry; high academic achievement; interest in mental health research; and leadership potential.
Gurguis says this fellowship will be a big help for him in his career, both in research and mentorship aspects.
“Having the ability to pick a mentor from among VA researchers is a big help,” Gurguis said. “I’m excited to be able to work with the veterans, who have their own unique needs within psychiatry and a unique set of life experiences.”
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Register for the UTHealth Houston Update Conference on Saturday, April 9! |
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The Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is proud to announce registration is open for the 2022 UTHealth Houston Psychiatry Update Conference, titled “Hot Topics: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,” on Saturday, April 9, 2022.
Speakers at the conference will share the latest information and research on various topics in child psychiatry, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism spectrum (ASD), mood and anxiety disorders, and a look at pediatric trauma research.
Cesar Soutullo, MD, PhD, course director of the conference, previews what will take place at the conference. Watch the video below
See the full list of speakers and registration information here.
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Registration is now open for the 2022 UTHealth Addictions Conference!
Date: August 26 and 27 (Friday and Saturday), 2022
Time: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location: Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM)
Address: 1825 Pressler St, Houston, TX 77030
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The following clinical trials are in operation, following all necessary safety guidelines. If you're interested, contact the appropriate study.
We are conducting a study to develop adaptive treatment interventions; that is, interventions that change based on how the participant is doing. Individuals seeking treatment for cocaine addiction may qualify to participate in this two-phase program.
Contact: 713-500-DRUG (3784)
This study aims to examine the safety and efficacy of allogenic mesenchymal stem cells as an adjunctive treatment of treatment-resistant bipolar depression. Patients will be assigned into a treatment or a placebo group.
Contact: 713-486-2627
This study assesses the safety and tolerability of Candesartan as an adjunctive treatment of bipolar depression. All patients will receive the study drug for four weeks and a placebo for four weeks. Neither the patients nor the study team will know if the patient received the study drug or the placebo first.
Contact: 713-486-2627
The UTHealth Houston Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders at the Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is collaborating with LivaNova, a global medical technology company, to start a new clinical trial – the “RECOVER study” – to help treat depression.
Contact: 713-486-2627
To see all open studies, visit our website.
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Melba A Hernandez-Tejada, Alexis Nagel, Mohan Madisetti, Sundar Balasubramanian, Teresa Kelechi
Albert J Fenoy, Paul E Schulz, Marsal Sanches, Sudhakar Selvaraj, Christina L Burrows, Bashar Asir, Christopher R Conner, Joao Quevedo, Jair C Soares
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Bahrman also talked to Wisconsin Public Radio about how to get out of the “survival mode” brought on by the pandemic.
Ron Acierno, PhD, spoke with Doug Pike for the Fifty+ show on KPRC radio about how the news of war may impact veterans. This starts at the 11:05 mark.
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Louis A. Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth
713-486-2500
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